Meeting Notes - May 05, 2017

The weekly Sansar community meeting is your opportunity to share direct feedback and get answers to questions about all things Sansar. During the May 5 meeting, the hot topic was the latest Sansar release which introduced several new features including: object grouping, scene object filters, and live audio preview.

Among the Sansar team members in attendance were Product Director Jason Gholston, VP of Product Bjorn Laurin, Senior Director of Global Communications Peter Gray, Lead Community Manager Jennifer, and Senior Producer & Sound Designer Torley.

THE LATEST SANSAR RELEASE: FEEDBACK

Following the May 1 release, several community members have been experimenting with the latest new features. Among the discussion topics were:

Object Editing - A creator inquired about using the new object editing tools to control the properties of a light nested within an object. Here's how::

In the SCENE OBJECTS list (accessible from the Options button in the upper menu), click the cyan arrow to the left of the parent object to view its Container, which should be expanded by default. (If it's not, click the cyan arrow next to "Container CON0" too.)

Right-click the light component (the first one is named "Light LIT0" by default) and choose Properties.

You'll also notice the XYZ manipulation handles, so you can move the light separately from the shape of the object — and when you move the whole object, the light moves with it.

Sound Shapes - Expect improvements to the current implementation of sound shapes (aka audio shapes, audio volumes, volumetric emitters). While these are intended to help creators spread sounds across a larger area (like nature ambience), we acknowledge that this early workflow is confusing, and there are several known issues preventing it from working as intuitively as it could. The Sansar team plans to update documentation to clarify how to best work with current limitations.

Audio Preview - On a related note, you can save time by adjusting the positioning and volumes of sounds in realtime. For more info, see the Audio Preview article.

VR vs. Desktop Mode - We continued an ongoing conversation about the differences between VR and desktop mode. Due to the higher hardware requirements for VR, to avoid frames dropping and juddering, we don't yet support volumetric shadows or god rays unless you're in desktop mode. If you're in VR, you'll currently only see fog.

Avatar Customization - In the near future, you’ll be able to wear eyewear, earrings, watches and rings.

Experience Tours

In addition to the general discussion, attendees toured and met with the creators of several new Sansar experiences including: